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St. Louis police are hoping education can help employers and schools prevent mass shootings on their grounds. So they've arranged for an expert to conduct a pair of free seminars Friday - one for business and one for educators.

The department-sponsored sessions will be conducted by police Major Joe Spiess. Spiess began studying mass shootings in 2010 after the ABB shooting in north St. Louis that left four people dead, including the gunman.

Spiess told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his research led him to focus on what he calls the "Mr. Uncomfortable" who exist in almost every workplace or school. Spiess acknowledges that most "Mr. Uncomfortables" don't lash out, but he says, ignoring one can be deadly.

Spiess recommends using committees to handle anonymous reports about potential problems and installing panic alarms.

The seminars will be Friday, Febreuary 15 at Ameren corporate headquarters on Chouteau. The Workplace violence prevention session is from 8:00 a.m. to noon. A second seminar on school violence prevention will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 is the registration deadline. Space is limited.

To register, send an e-mail to registration@slmpd.org, specifying which session and listing place of employment and supervisor's name and contact information.

GRANITE CITY, Ill. (AP) - Kraft Foods is weighing whether to spend $40 million to expand a southwestern Illinois plant if the city and state provide about $400,000 to widen a road in front of the site.

The Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis reports that the move would add 30 jobs to the 660,000 square foot plant and warehouse. The facilities now have more than 400 workers. The plant produces Capri Sun and Kool-Aid beverages.

As part of the project, the Illinois Department of Transportation would provide $300,000 for the road widening. Kraft says it's needed to allow trucks to turn into the plant.

Granite City Economic Development Director Jonathan Ferry says the matter may go before the city council sometime between April and June.

The Granite City facility became part of Kraft in 1991.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans say President Barack Obama's second-term agenda will bring more tax increases and deficit spending, hurting middle-class families at the expense of economic growth.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says in excerpts released ahead of his Republican response to Obama's State of the Union address that he hopes the president will "abandon his obsession with raising taxes" and try to grow the economy.

Rubio says the nation needs a balanced budget amendment to curb spending and says he won't support changes to Medicare that will hurt seniors like his mother.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, in excerpts from his tea party response, says Washington acts in a way that your family never could - spending money it doesn't have and borrowing from future generations.